Another life worth living
by mochipew
Summary: Death. Death has encased Harry. Death had taken everyone he loved until he could no longer bear it. When he finds himself in the mind of his nine-year-old counterpart and sees his friends again, will Harry muster up the strength to change the future? Will he be able to live his own life again?
1. It now begins at the very end

Harry gazed at the other person in front of him, his eyes threatening to fall and send him into a sleep which he had been deprived of for weeks.

The Second Wizarding War never calmed, the battles raged on and on and death an endless reminder that the Light would never triumph. Dumbledore along with many other powerful wizards had fallen, leaving the Wizarding World with only one hope.

Harry Potter.

They expected him to vanquish Voldemort, they expected him to save them. All their hope rested upon his shoulders, refusing that they would lose and expecting Harry to defeat the Dark Lord and stop him from terrorizing the innocent. They put every last scrap of their hope towards him, not fighting as "The Boy-Who-Lived will save them and they will be free!"

They didn't know the true extent of the Dark Lord's power and that young Harry Potter though physically strong, could no longer stay standing against the heavy emotional pain and torment he had been put through.

His friends were all dead. Hermione, sweet and gentle Hermione, she was captured by unknown Death Eaters and tortured until her once clever mind was nothing but a tiny fragment of her soul clinging to her last remaining magical power within her body. She couldn't even talk, his dear Hermione.

His wonderful and brilliant Ronald's neck was twisted by Lucius Malfoy, as he claimed that he would be the one to wipe out all blood-traitors. Harry watched as his best friend's body collapsed onto the ground, lifeless eyes staring back up at him with unshed tears pooling in his gloomy blue orbs.

Remus, Sirius, Dumbledore, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Fred, George, Molly, Arthur, Dean, Seamus- all of them were gone. All of them were dead. Perhaps Tom left Harry until last, waiting until he could take it no more and offer himself up to the Dark Lord.

This is where Harry found himself now.

Standing on one leg as his other had been crushed by a piece of Hogwarts falling down upon him, various fingers and nails absent from his hands and a smile with missing teeth. Scrapes and bruises littered his body, blood and dirt was caked into his hair and soaked into his once youthful skin. His glasses were shattered, vibrant green eyes the only part of poor Harry that remained the same.

He grinned toothlessly at Voldemort, wand lying on the ground at his feet.

"Just kill me, Tom. I'm not going to fight anymore. You've taken everything from me, haven't you had your fun?" Harry let his standing leg give way, painfully landing on the stones beneath him.

A hoarse voice responded with a cold laugh. "Dear Harry, you don't know how pleasant it is to see you like this! I must enjoy it more!"

Harry's smile didn't falter, if anything it grew wider. "I sure bet you feel great, now, can we get this over and done with? I'm ready to sit down and have a nice cup of tea with Albus and tell him all the stories of how much of a _bad boy_ you were."

The Dark Lord glared at him, walking towards the boy ever so slowly and roughly grasped Harry's shirt within his fist and pulling him up to meet his face. Blood red eyes stared deep into soothing green.

Voldemort raised his wand so it was pressed right against Harry's temple, digging into the soft part of his skin. Without his eyes leaving Harry's own, he brought his mouth down to Harry's ear, so close that he could feel the Dark Lord's breath against his cheek.

In a hiss that was all so familiar, Voldemort uttered the surprisingly soothing, " _Avada Kedavra_."

A flash of light so bright that Harry had to shut his eyes appeared so suddenly next to him, and a deafening roar-like sound rushed past his ears. Before Harry could tell himself that he was dead, a soft laugh rang soothingly through his mind.


	2. A helpful book

He was in limbo. That was the first thought to surface Harry's mind. It was just like the second time he'd been hit with the killing curse; the entirety of his surroundings pure white, though this time it wasn't Kings Cross. It wasn't anything at all.

The plain whiteness seemed to go on for forever, there were no corners and it just seemed as if Harry was encased in a blank screen that was uncomfortably bright compared to the darkness of Hogwarts on the day of his death.

He reached his arm out, trying to grasp onto anything. In doing this Harry noticed that his fingers, after counting them twice, and once more, were all there. No dirt remained beneath his fingernails and they all returned to their perfect shape and length. Harry felt slightly uncomfortable at the unusual sight, he had not been clean for so many years.

Twisting both hands around now, Harry saw that the scar dug into his skin reminding him to never tell lies was non-existent. Now that he thought about it, all of his injuries and flaws were gone! He quickly stuck a finger in his mouth and sure enough, he felt all his teeth right where he left them before they were rudely knocked out.

He looked at his legs to find he wasn't wearing the same torn up and dirty clothing from before. He had on a blindingly white robe to cover himself and felt a blush crawl across his cheeks when he saw that he wasn't wearing any under clothing of any sorts.

He had looked at himself enough, and he knew there would be nothing to look at in the vast room in which he was trapped. Despite this, his legs moved on their own to an invisible source. Harry felt that this was the direction he needed to go in, though he wasn't sure why.

It all became much clearer to him when a small, polished wooden table appeared on the floor. The white environment of the room twisted to form the shape of the object, and as if the room was paper and the twisting was the folding of origami, the wooden table was formed.

It wasn't at all large nor was it very high, it came up just under Harry's knees. Though a plain leather bound book got his full attention. The pages, from what Harry could see without opening the book, were slightly yellow and old. They almost looked ancient. Hesitantly, he knelt down on one knee and opened the cover. Words appeared on the first page and greeted him like Tom Riddle's diary had once.

" _I've been waiting eagerly for you, my dear child."_

Harry saw no quill or ink anywhere in sight, after fumbling with his hands for a moment unsure of what to do, he awkwardly replied aloud to the book.

"Ah, yes, hello. Erm, I don't suppose you know where I am, do you? I'm not too sure if this is the correct way to respond to you since you're, well, y'know... a book and all."

The book seemed to buzz as if it were laughing, and the previous words sunk back into the paper and was replaced with a full page of information.

" _You're doing wonderfully considering the circumstances. I'm afraid I'm unsure where you are myself. Your mind is not anywhere at the current time, and I know it may be difficult to understand. You have a strong mind, young Harry. Your body may have perished but your mind lives on. With no physical form to reside within, your mind is in what I like to name 'the nothingness'. You see, a person's soul may only occupy one body a lifetime, and after that person's death they are unable to be 'reborn', as humans tend to put it, immediately since they must wait until the soul loses all attachments to their previous life and forgets all of their earlier experiences and relations. Time passes by differently in the nothingness. It may feel like an eternity here for someone to lose their old self or not any time at all, and once that person is reborn it may be far in the future, a few seconds after their death or many, many years before their first birth. I truly don't wish for you to go through with this, my dear. That is why I am going to send your current soul back to your youth. You won't be taking over your younger self's body as that is his right to own and yours has been destroyed. You'll merely be residing in it for the time being until I am able to find you a form suitable for your soul to occupy. Oh, I'm sorry. It seems I've overloaded you with information. Don't mind me, it's something us books tend to do. I hope you understand"_

The book seemed to emit a sense of embarrassment, and the words soaked back into the page once Harry was finished reading it.

"I'm not sure I understand. My body was destroyed so my soul is here, in the nothingness, and since you don't wish for me to forget myself you're going to send me back to my younger counterpart?" It all sounded rather strange to say aloud, though it made sense. The soul can be reborn only if it has no recollection of their past life, and then can occupy a body any moment in time. "Why don't you want me to be reborn?"

The book seemed to feel rather miserable in his hands, even going cold to the touch. _"Events didn't play out how I imagined. Yes, you were destined to defeat Voldemort but not this late. It seems your quests to destroy his Horcruxes turned out unsuccessful and he was able to live long enough to take the lives of everyone you love and destroy you emotionally. I want to send you back, and for you to guide your younger self through their years. I know you don't want to experience the war again, but I know you, Harry. You'd feel so much better knowing the lives of your loved ones have been saved and to see them happy would be us both so much joy."_

Deep down in his very heart, Harry knew the book was right. Whilst the war hurt him very much and to experience it again would be horrible, just to see the faces of his beautiful friends and to see them cheerful would bring so much happiness to his soul, happiness he hadn't felt for a long time.

"You're right. I agree, yes. I want nothing more than to see them and hear their voices. I won't accept the offer unless I truly know what it is I'm getting into. I need you to tell me in detail" After years of war, Harry could take no chances.

" _Just like your father you are. He'd always demand to know everything as well. Not in the manner you just did though, he was very childish at times. Nevertheless, I must tell you. Like I said, I'm sending you to your younger self. I'd say around nine years, to give yourself time to adjust. You do not have the rights to take over his body though, the Harry in the past is not you now. The body is rightfully his in all aspects, you cannot steal it. Your form was destroyed by Voldemort, so I can't send that into the past with you. Only your mind, which will be placed in the back of young Harry's own. He will have full control, think of it like a backseat driver. They are unable to drive but can give instructions to the driver. You can communicate with young Harry and give him advice, you will be able to see from his eyes but not be able to take the reins. I shouldn't explain what it will be like to you now, that's a surprise for when you get there!"_

The book buzzed once more in laughter, transferring the feeling to Harry who chuckled as well. Even though it was not all the detail he wanted, especially in the fact that he didn't know it would be like to be inside his younger mind, he knew it was enough. For some reason, he felt like he could trust the book, even with his life. Which was a weird feeling to be having, he thought, as it was a book. Leather and paper soaked in magic with a mind all to itself.

"I accept your offer. Though may I ask who you are? Books from my experience tend to house the souls of people." Harry asked, though at his words of acceptance the book glowed a warm light, the light soaked into the whiteness of the area and filled Harry's eyes. It wrapped around the boy like a snake, branching off from itself like flowing water and encasing the entirety of Harry's body.

Harry felt light-headed, literally. It felt like his head was as light as a feather, floating up towards the sky. He could no longer feel his body, just a subtle numbness. A woman's voice filled his mind, soft and comforting and filled with unadulterated love.

" _You know who I am, don't you, my beautiful boy? Oh, I'm so proud of you. So very proud. I love you very much, and you father does too. I wish you luck, my gorgeous son. You will join me one day, and when that day comes I won't let you go but now I'm afraid I must, my beautiful. Goodbye."_ Desire filled Harry, realising that he missed the chance to speak with his dear mother.

 _Don't leave me mum, oh god. Please don't! I miss you, I love you, please let me speak to you!_

If he had a physical form, tears would be flowing down his cheeks. He would be curled up on the floor holding his heart as the pain made it clench. Utter longing for his mother would cause him to cry out and seek warm embrace, but he did not for his body was gone and his soul was being tugged through time like a fish caught on the end of the line.

He felt like he was twisting and turning, stopping at a dead end like in a maze only to turn back and go the other way to find his destination.

The pulling became more desperate, yanking him in quick bursts only to stop and yank him harsh once more. In a final unforgiving wrench, it felt like he was breaking through water and escaping onto the surface. He felt a physical form again, the noticeable heartbeat was throbbing painfully in his head as he collided with something hard and cold, eliciting a loud thud as if a body had slumped towards the floor and hit their head which, Harry admits, was probably exactly what happened.

* * *

 _Hello! This is the end of Chapter One of my first Harry Potter Fanfiction. The prologue before this was a very short one and I do admit this chapter was on the shorter side of things (1,827 words) but I'm not fond of chapters that go on for a long time because I like to read whenever I have the chance and if I was about to go out or I was having a quick break I don't want to be stuck reading a large 5,000 word chapter when I could read a smaller one. It might just be me but when I start a chapter I can't stop reading. Anyways, I'm rambling! Hope the story is enjoyed and if you want please review! I love hearing feedback!_


	3. So much to process!

Harry groaned as his head was pressed against the cold wooden floor, the coolness of the timber providing a remedy for the heat that the pain in his sensitive head created. As if his body was weighted down, he sluggishly pushed himself up off the floor, head spinning as it lifted. He clenched his eyes shut and waited for the faintness to pass.

When he was able to get his eyes open, he saw bright orange flames flickering in front of his face. Panicking slightly, he pushed himself onto his feet swiftly and whipped his head around. He was in an open room built of dark timber. It had high walls with wooden beams crossing above his head. He was in a living room, with black leather sofas and tall lounge chairs which sat in front of a wide fireplace surrounded by dark bricks.

The floor was a dark timber like the walls, but Harry saw that the living room spread out into an open dining area with large polished tiles that had a long wooden table with intricate carvings into it, a chandelier dangled above from the high ceiling. Harry walked into the dining area and saw a tall spiral staircase with a black iron railing.

Walking up the stairs which lead to a long hallway, he saw paintings on the walls that were of beautiful landscapes. Forests with grand trees playing host to beautiful birds. Rushing rivers running along the side of a mountain with moss along the stones and a beautiful blue sky. Harry was in awe of the images, which moved the same as wizard paintings.

The hallway had a lengthy rug running through the middle, made of red wool and black lining. To Harry, who was wearing no shoes, it felt like velvet.

The hallway had many rooms, all the doors looked exactly the same. They were dark timber, like the rest of the house, with a golden handle. One door caught his immediate interest. It was white which attracted him immediately, with a shiny silver handle. He rushed to the door, opening the handle.

Harry was met immediately with books. A lot of books. Books stacked on high shelves and books he swore were made of gold locked in cabinets. It looked much bigger than the Hogwarts library and he couldn't even say how big it was. The isles stretched on until the books he saw were tiny dots in his vision. At the start of every isle, on the side of a shelf, hung a sign with bold letters stating the type of books placed within that isle. Harry spotted a bookshelf just for _Dwarves and how to confront them._

The tables within the library were free of any books except for the one closest to Harry. It had the same book that he was talking to not long ago. Harry's heart leapt at the thought of his mother and he immediately rushed to the book and opened the cover.

He was met with disappointment, as the book contained pages upon pages of information which wasn't in his mother elegant handwriting but a text typed out from a computer and printed onto the pages. He slumped in the chair, tears pooling in his eyes. He missed his mother.

Deciding to flip through the pages anyway to see why the book was left out, he started on the first page. Seeing the book was about the history of wars he sighed and dropped the cover of the book. Doing this caused a relatively long piece of parchment to fall out, which he picked up and began to read.

 _Hello, to whomever may be reading this._

 _If you find yourself reading me then you are in Harry Potter's mind. It's quite a comfortable place, isn't it? I am The Scroll. Yes, The Scroll is a strange name I've been told. But I truly am The Scroll. I am in every human's mind and I am always there to guide other souls who reside within. You are the first, so I welcome you._ _I contain all information once shall need whilst in another's mind. I can tell you how to communicate with them and how to see from their eyes. Now, shall we get started?_

 _ **The Basics**_

 _So, here are the basics! You will find yourself in the interior of a grand building generally, but if not you should not worry! The building's interior generally shows the sort of taste in design the person has. They are almost always designed to suit your needs!_

 _You will find a kitchen and dining room should you ever find yourself hungry, a living room for relaxation and viewing from the person's eyes, a toilet, to do your business, a library, where you would have found me and been confronted by all of my friends! The libraries contain every single piece of information should one need, and if you are ever looking for a certain piece of information you can ask me and I'll summon the available books for you._

 _ **To communicate**_

 _Even though it doesn't seem like it, you're in the person's mind. Anything you say will be heard, even in sleep. You will be able to hear their thoughts too, but some thoughts can be rather personal so the main bedroom is the room that you can no longer hear from them and they can no longer hear from you._

 _ **To see from their eyes**_

 _This can be entertaining at times but others it really feels like you're intruding! If you wish to see from the person's eyes you will go into the living room. Just the thought of wanting to access their eyes will form a window of sorts. That window is the person's eyes and is available for use 24/7. Whilst the person is asleep the window will be dark. That brings me to my next topic!_

 _ **To communicate whilst they are asleep**_

 _It is their mind, after all. They are able to go through their own mind even in sleep so do not be surprised if you're confronted by them though this does not happen often. If they're having a dream that means they're in a certain room in the hallway. Different rooms for different sort of dreams. You can find them in their dreams and speak to them, it'd be a golden door that current night. Just ask Pipiska (who is a small golden creature you may see flying around) and they can send you to the door and back when you wish. So we've got dreams, which is a room in the hallway, wandering their minds, which is not a frequent activity, or no dreams at all._

 _ **Protecting one's mind**_

 _If you are here then you're a wizard. The person's mind you're in will also be a wizard. This sort of task you're doing is only available to wizards. This is why the mind is prone to Legilimency. If you are unaware, this is the act of intruding one's mind and finding desired information. If you are here to guard and protect the person's mind, then you will be able to push out anyone attempting to dig into the mind of your host. You can push them out anyway, you can literally do it or you can force them out with a knife. People have different preferences, I'm not picky. I am a scroll after all._

 _ **Other notes**_

 _It's your job to make yourself known to your host. Not mine. I'm not going to tell you how you're going to talk with them or how you're going to first greet them. There are no rules so it's completely up to you._

 _Don't be a pervert._

 _Scroll is out._

Harry put the scroll down in shock, processing the information now collected in his head. He thought it funny that the scroll had a personality and was not talking to him in a professional manner. That comment about not being a pervert made him glare at the scroll but made him chuckle as well.

"I'm going loony, if I'm laughing at the personality of a scroll" He sighed, getting up from his chair.

He walked through the hallway once more, noticing that none of the doors were golden. Could that mean young Harry was awake? He stepped down the staircase, running his hand along the smooth railing and noticing that there were no traces of dust settled on the object.

He made his way back to the living room, sitting down on the leather sofa and relishing in the soft feeling of the cushion that he practically sunk into. He thought of wishing to see from Harry's eyes and was surprised at a low rumbling noise that echoed around him. Looking ahead, the wall in which the fireplace was placed was rising upwards towards the ceiling and looked as if it were soaking into the roof. In the walls place stood an enormous window that seemed to be made of nothing. Harry reached out to touch the window and was met with an invisible barrier.

Looking through, he saw the once familiar sight of the grass. He saw delicate hands roughly ripping out weeds from the ground, and he heard a heavy breath thick with exhaustion. His mind whirled and realised this was his younger self doing garden work for Aunt Petunia.

A smirk made its way across his face, and he got comfortable on the sofa.

"Hello, Harry."

* * *

 _Hi! Oh goodness, I had very bad writers block! The writing isn't good and I'm not that proud of it. It's literally just a chapter explaining the workings of Harry's mind. It's getting difficult writing things like "Harry thought that his younger self" and bla, bla, bla. I'll give older Harry a different name and refer to him as that through the rest of the story. Not to worry, he won't be trapped in his younger self's mind for the whole story but it will take up most of the time. Anyway, please leave your reviews! :]_


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